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A Danish man has been found guilty of sharing sexually explicit segments from protected movies and TV series on the social media site Reddit.

According to a police document obtained by media outlets, the unnamed individual shared 347 clips of nude scenes in a subreddit he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

Danish authorities confirm he has been handed a 7-month suspended jail term for copyright infringement.

Experts say the man was charged under a rarely-used clause in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the judge ruling that by taking the scenes out of their intended setting, the accused had damaged the performers' "ethical entitlements".

He has additionally been convicted of sharing more than 25 TB of protected digital content.

From spring 2022 to May 2023, the man using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded sexually explicit clips featuring over 100 actresses.

He distributed them in the subreddit he was a moderator of.

According to the Danish anti-piracy organization The Rights Alliance (TRA), his online community had more than 6,000 members and participants were encouraged to ask for clips of specific actors.

In 2023, campaigners filed the incident to the police on behalf of the impacted actors, filmmakers and production companies, which led to the subreddit being shut down.

One actress, one of the actresses whose explicit scenes were circulated in the group, told local media at the time she believed there was a difference between being seen unclothed in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The actress said the uploads constituted "exploitation".

'A significant signal'

The man was detained in September 2024 and pleaded culpable to the allegations recently.

In a comment following the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance Maria Fredenslund said the decision sent an "significant" signal "that violations of artists' rights has repercussions".

The ruling is considered unique in Denmark for its use of the "moral rights" section of the national copyright law, which specifies an artist's creation cannot be used in a way which violates their standing.

Intellectual property expert Dr Alina Trapova informed the media the case was "rare" for its emphasis on the damage to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

The extent to which the case could affect nations abroad is unclear.

But she added there may be "more and more of such cases" in the future with the advancement of AI, where "the sanctity of one's creative output might be tempered with much more easily".